President Yar’adua extends hand of fellowship to the new National Assembly
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Jun 6, 2007, 13:12

President Umaru Musa Yar’adua has solicited the cooperation of the National Assembly to enable it come up with the requisite legislations.

The President stated this at a breakfast meeting, which he and the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan hosted for the newly elected leadership of the National Assembly led by Senate President David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Patricia Etteh.

While congratulating them, President Yar’adua pledged to work in collaboration with the legislature in his drive to reposition Nigeria for peace and prosperity.

“I will work closely with you as partners because I have always seen members of the legislature as partners in progress. I will take all major decisions after consulting with the National Assembly leadership, even when such decisions may not require legislative input.” He said.

“For instance, I met with stakeholders in the power sector yesterday and I formally informed them of my resolve to declare a state of emergency in the sector. We are going to do something drastic in that sector that would require getting the support of all stakeholders because, as I keep saying, until we resolve the power crisis, we cannot address the other problems of the economy. It is central to all my plans.” He added.

He noted that throughout his eight-year tenure in Katsina, he never had any crisis with the State House of Assembly although they sometimes disagreed on issues, saying he would continue with the same policy.

Senate President David Mark in his response said the National Assembly would cooperate with the executive. “We can cooperate and still retain our independence because independence does not mean conflict. Our interest will be that of the downtrodden Nigerians who have sent us to the National Assembly to make good laws that would impact on their lives,” he said.

Other Principal Officers at the breakfast were: Senators Ike Ekweremadu, Teslim Folarin, Kanti Bello and Victor Ndoma-Egba. From the House were: Babangida Ngoroje, Tunde Akogun, Baba Shehu, Bethel Amadi and Aminu Tambuwal.

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